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AFRE is in essence the Mode Transition (MoTR) program, which was to be an outgrowth of DARPA's FALCON, but which was going to use a high-Mach turbojet to get the propulsion system to the ramjet takeover speed. AFRE's goal is to achieve this with a "normal Mach" turbojet.MoTR was terminated, but would have used one of the small Mach 3-plus engines developed by Williams and Rolls-Royce under the US Air Force Research Laboratory's HiSTED program. AFRE will use a small turbojet that can operate to a more normal Mach 2-2.5 range.The big issue with turbine-based combined cycle engines for hypersonics bridging the speed gap between the turbojet and the ramjet. Research has been focused of getting the ramjet takeover speed as low as possible, and AFRE suggests they have made some progress.At AFA in 2015, Rolls-Royce LibertyWorks displayed a (model of a) version of its YJ102R HiSTED engine redesigned for lower Mach number, but longer endurance, to power potential future supersonic cruise missile. A version of this STELR engine could work within AFRE.
AFRE is in essence the Mode Transition (MoTR) program, which was to be an outgrowth of DARPA's FALCON, but which was going to use a high-Mach turbojet to get the propulsion system to the ramjet takeover speed. AFRE's goal is to achieve this with a "normal Mach" turbojet.
MoTR was terminated, but would have used one of the small Mach 3-plus engines developed by Williams and Rolls-Royce under the US Air Force Research Laboratory's HiSTED program. AFRE will use a small turbojet that can operate to a more normal Mach 2-2.5 range.
The big issue with turbine-based combined cycle engines for hypersonics bridging the speed gap between the turbojet and the ramjet. Research has been focused of getting the ramjet takeover speed as low as possible, and AFRE suggests they have made some progress.
At AFA in 2015, Rolls-Royce LibertyWorks displayed a (model of a) version of its YJ102R HiSTED engine redesigned for lower Mach number, but longer endurance, to power potential future supersonic cruise missile. A version of this STELR engine could work within AFRE.
